Why Can't I Always Lift My Max?

Derek Saffold • February 19, 2026

What is STRENGTH EXPRESSION?

Strength expression is our ability to show or utilize the strength we have. We call it expression because in the world of lifting, CrossFit, functional fitness, or training, our ability to show that strength varies. Even though our potential strength is the same, we are not always able to fully express it the way we want. Whether that is hitting a max back squat, doing heavy thrusters in a CrossFit style workout, or hitting that heavy clean complex when olympic lifting, we will not always be able to hit our maxes, this is because of factors outside of just our strength itself.

Why Is It Fluid?

Strength is fluid because there are external factors other than just your strength level that will determine the amount of strength you can express day to day or week to week. We are not robots; we are adapting to many different stressors in our day-to-day lives, whether that is from a hard day at work, a hard training day the day before, poor sleep, poor nutrition, being sick, cardiovascular fatigue, etc. There are so many factors that affect our ability to express strength that it should be the expectation that you see variance, and are not able to hit your potential strength numbers every day. It's not all bad! It also means that our strength expression can go up as well. This happens with consistent training, good eating habits, good recovery habits, etc.

Why And What Kind Of Fatigue Sets In?

Fatigue or underrecovery is the main culprit for negative strength expression. These factors not only affect our ability to produce force but also our movement quality, causing changes as well.

Some of the direct factors that cause the reduction of force are:

Central Nervous System (CNS) Fatigue: This occurs in the brain and spinal cord, which inhibits nerve signals to the working muscles, effectively decreasing force production. These typically happen from either high volumes of low-intensity contractions, like long-distance running, or from low volumes of near-maximal contractions, like lifting 90%+ of a 1RM.
Localized Muscular Fatigue: A type of fatigue that occurs in the muscles and the peripheral nerves, causing less force during contractions. This is a short-term fatigue that occurs during and immediately after sets of resistance or endurance training.

We also have indirect Influences on strength expression:

Altered Movement Patterns: This is typically created from localized muscular fatigue. A great example would be performing a heavy set of farmers' carries before doing cleans. The fatigue from the carries could affect the way you would perform the pull of the clean.
Inhibition of Diaphragm-based Spinal Stabilization: The diaphragm is the muscle responsible for respiration as well as a spinal stabilizer. This means that as our respiratory rate increases, our body will prioritize supplying oxygen to the brain or body, making it harder to brace when lifting.

What Does That Mean For You?

This means that feeling like the same load or speed will feel harder or easier at different times is completely normal. What feels like an 80% effort some weeks or days can feel like a 90-100% effort on others. We are all humans, which means the demands of each day, week, or month can change as life changes, and that means we should have the expectation that our ability to produce force or intensity should change with it. It means that sometimes it is ok to just want to move if you already feel extremely taxed from the week. Listen to your bodies and push when you can, and take a step back when you can't. Consistency is more important than any other aspect of fitness to get results. You can always take focus away from intensity and instead focus on quality.

P.S. Don't take this as an excuse to not push hard during training. Our bodies are also amazing at adapting to what we do. We will adapt to the demands if we give ourselves time to recover.

Keep on keeping on. Bring the intensity, but also be understanding of our bodies.

If you want to talk to a coach to learn more on how we can help. You can book a free 30 min consultation below.

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